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Debate Materials
Athens & Sparta
or
Socrates, Plato & Aristotle
Sparta
• Covered by hills and mountains, isolation
contributed to the Spartan’s desire to be
left alone.
• Education focused entirely on physical
fitness and military training (men were full
time soldiers from 20 to 30 years of age)
• Women were to bear children, but were
also known for their wealth and indepence
• Almost no interest in the arts or philosophy
Sparta
• The Spartan citizens were, in fact, the
descendants of 9th century BC Doric invaders
to the Peloponnese.
– Rather than exterminating or enslaving the native
population,
– the Spartans had—for whatever reason—managed
to come to a unique arrangement with the
conquered inhabitants.
• These continued to live and work in Laconia, enjoying
distinctly different status and privileges from the Spartan
citizens, or Spartiates, but far better than that of chattel
slaves.
Sparta: Perioikoi
• These peoples were divided into two broad
categories:
– The residents of the pre-Doric towns, who enjoyed a
free but dependent status as "Perioikoi,"
– and the peasants, who enjoyed a far more restricted
status as "helots."
• The Perioikoi had their own laws and customs,
could pursue any profession or trade they liked,
and had their own local officials and dignitaries.
Sparta: Helots
• The "helots" were tied to the land and were
officially the property of the
Lacedaemonian government.
• By the 6th Century B.C., helots probably
outnumbered Sparta citizens by 10 to 1
• The large number of helots allowed the
Spartans to cultivate their region efficiently,
but also posed the threat of constant
rebellion
Sparta: Helots
• The Spartan helots—if compared to slaves in
other Greek city-states—were very privileged
indeed.
• Helots were not chattels.
– They could not be bought and sold by their "masters."
– They could marry who and when they willed.
– They even legally had parents and children.
• (In other Greek states, a slave was not allowed to marry, and
offspring of sexual intercourse, regardless of the partner,
"belonged" to the owner of the slave; parenthood was not
recognized.)
Sparta: Spartiates
• In theory, all Spartans citizens were equal
– To discourage economic and social distinctions,
Spartans observed an extraordinarily austere lifestyle
as a matter of policy
• No jewelry, elaborate clothes, luxuries, or
accumulation of great private wealth
– Even today, “spartan” means
• Practicing great self-denial
• Unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or
judgment
• Resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity
What was it like to be a
Spartan?
• Taken away from your parents at age 7, you lived a
harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers barracks.
• You were beaten by older children who started fights
to help make you tough and strong.
• You were often were whipped in front of groups of
other Spartans, including your parents, but never
cried out in pain.
• You were given very little food, but encouraged to
steal food, instead. If caught stealing, you were
beaten.
• To avoid severe pain, you learned to be cunning, to
lie, to cheat, to steal, and how to get away with it!
Sparta: Education
• What distinctions did exist in Spartan
society were based not on wealth or social
status, but on prowess, discipline, and
military talent
• Spartan educational system cultivated
such attributes from an early age
– Boys left their homes at age seven to live in
military barracks under a rigorous regime of
physical training
– At age 20 they took a test of Athletics and
Leadership
• If they passed, they went into the military as citizens
where they served until retirement
• If they failed, they became part of the Perioikoi
Sparta: Spartiates
• Women married at age
18 or 20 but did not live
with their husbands
– The men stayed in the
barracks until about
age 30 when they
began to set up
households with their
wives and children
– Women maintained
strict physical regimes
in the hopes of bearing
strong children
Sparta: Spartiates
• Even after they were married,
the men did not live with their
wives and families. They lived
in the barracks.
• Military service did not end
until a Spartan male reached
the age of 60.
• Only then could a Spartan
soldier retire and live in their
home with their family.
Sparta: Government
• Highly unusual
government that
contained elements
of democracy,
timocracy,
monarchy, and
oligarchy
King Leonidas
ca. 530 BC-480 BC
Sparta: Government
• Oligarchy
– Rule by a few
– Power was in the
hands of five men
called Ephores who
were elected
annually by the
Council of Elders
• Timocracy
– Government by
people of honor
– All Ephores were over
the age of 60 and had
completed their
military career
– The Ephores
controlled all daily life
in Sparta
Sparta: Government
• Monarchy
– Rule by a hereditary
sovereign
– Under the five
Ephores there were
two Kings that came
from the two noble
families of Sparta
– With divine approval,
shown in an oracle or
an omen, the Ephores
had the power to force
the Kings’ abdication
• Democracy
– Election based on
numerical majority
– Under the Kings were
the Council of the Elders.
– The council passed laws
and elected the five
Ephores
– Beneath them were the
rest of the free Spartan
men who voted for the
Council of Elders
Sparta
• Oligarchy is dominant
government
• Military strength most
important
• Harsh treatment of their
slaves
• Farming Economy
Life in the Polis
• Life centered around agora (marketplace)
• Divided into three groups
– Adult men: citizens with political rights
– Free people (women, children and resident
foreigners: no political rights
– Slaves: prisoners of war or for debt
• Girls were considered economic liabilities
since they had to be provided with
dowries before they could get married
Law codes
• Laws were enforced by aristocrats and
ruled as they saw fit
• Demands grew to force the aristocrats to
codify, or write down, the customary laws
and procedures governing the cities
• As the laws were made public for all to see
the rule of the aristocrats was brought to
an end
Tyrrany: Solon the Lawgiver
• Social unrest leads to
new system
• Solon canceled debts and
abolished enslavement
for debt.
• Citizenship based on
wealth
– Public office was open to
the three upper classes
– Fourth class was ineligible
for public office
• Problems for poor
farmers continued
Peisistratus & Cleisthenes
• Peisistratus the Tyrant
– Wielding sole political power in violation of the established law, but with
the support of the people
– Beautified the city and increased the sense of being a Athenian by civic
festivals
• Cleisthenes democracy
– Mixed different tribes in hope to destroy the regional power of the
aristocracy
– Created Council of Five Hundred
– Direct democracy: all legislative and electoral power remained with the
popular assembly, made up of all voting citizens
Women in
Athens
• Women did not have citizen
rights.
• They could only go out to
weddings, funerals, religious
festivals and to visit female
friends.
• In wealthy families girls were
educated to run the household
of servants and slaves, and
were usually married by the age
of 13.
• In poorer families women
worked alongside men, farming
in the fields or running the family
business.
Education
in Athens
• Until age 6 or 7, boys were taught at
home by their mother or by a male
slave.
• They boys learnt the poetry of
Homer and how to play the lyre.
• Their teacher, who was always a
man, could choose what other
subjects he wanted to teach.
• He might choose to teach drama,
public speaking, government, art,
reading, writing, maths and the flute.
• Books were expensive and rare, so
lessons were read out-loud, and the
boys had to memorize everything.
• They were taught to read and write the Greek
alphabet.
• They didn’t have books to write in. Instead, they use
a wax tablet, and wrote on this with a metal 'pen'. The
pen had a sharp end and a rounded end.
• They wrote with the sharp end, and then rubbed out
the work with the rounded end.
• At 14 boys attended a higher school for four more years.
• When they turned 18, they entered military school for two
additional years.
•
At age 20, they graduated.
• Girls were not educated at school, but many learned to
read and write at home.
What it was like to be an
Athenian
• Be polite.
• You have had a good education.
• Until age 6 or 7, you were taught at home by your mother, or by
a male slave.
• From age 7-14, you attended a day school in the neighborhood
where you memorized poetry and learned to play the lyre.
• You learned drama, public speaking, reading, writing, math, and
perhaps even how to play the flute.
• You attended four years of higher school, and learned more
about math and science and government.
• At 18, you attended military school for two additional years!
• You believe you are better than any other city, and are proud to
be an Athenian!
Athens
• Democratic
government
• Education valued
• Trade Economy
How was order maintained
in Greece?
• Government
– Sparta
• Military means
– Athens
• Democratic means
– Corinth
• Tyrants
Greek Philosophy
• Athens’ sophisticated and wealthy society
provided time for thought
– “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there
spent their time doing nothing but talking about and
listening to the latest ideas.”
• Several great thinkers tried to construct a
consistent system of philosophy based purely on
human reason
– Rationally understand human beings and human
behavior
• Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.)
• Turned the course of
philosophical enquiry around-from its earlier focus on natural
science, to a focus on ethics or
public morality
• Keenly interested in such
subjects as justice, beauty, and
goodness
• Optimistic
– Knowing the truly good would
necessarily direct a person to
act in line with this knowledge
– Human beings can lead
honest lives
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.)
• Insisted on the need to reflect on the
purposes and goals of life
• “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
– Human beings have an obligation to strive for
personal integrity, behave honorably toward
others, and work toward construction of a just
society
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.)
• Posed questions that encouraged
reflection on human issues, particularly on
matters of ethics and morality
– “the Socratic method”
• Honor was more important than wealth,
fame, or other superficial attributes
– Scorned those who preferred public
accolades to personal integrity
Socratic Method
• When Meno, in the dialogue that bears his name, asks
Socrates, "Can virtue be taught?" Socrates asks, "Can
you tell me what virtue is?"
• When Meno replies with a list of answers, Socrates
notes that Meno has made something that was one into
something that was many; not very illustrative.
• He asks Meno if there is a single, unified definition of
virtue.
• Thus begins a friendly dialogue (not merely a technique),
that discusses not only the essence of virtue in men, but
also examines the very nature of knowledge and
learning itself.
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.)
• Played the role of “gadfly,”
– a person who stimulates or
annoys especially by
persistent criticism
– subjecting the gods to critical
scrutiny
• This tactic outraged some of
his fellow citizens
– Socrates was brought to trial
on charges of encouraging
immorality and corrupting
Athenian youth
• He had an opportunity to
flee Athens, but stood trial to
uphold the law
A jury of Athenian citizens
found him guilty and
condemned him to death
Drank a cup of hemlock
and died in the company of
his friends
Socrates (469 to 399 B.C.)
• Socrates did not
write his thoughts
down, but we
know them
through his
disciple Plato
• Plato wrote a
series of
dialogues in
which Socrates
figured as the
principal speaker
“Socrates Teaching”
Plato (427 to 347 B. C.)
• Plato advanced from
recording Socrates
views to developing
his own systematic
vision of the world
and human society
– The Theory of
Forms or Ideas
Plato (427 to 347 B. C.)
• Plato was frustrated that he couldn’t gain
satisfactory intellectual control over the
world
– For example, generally speaking, virtue
requires one to honor and obey his parents,
but if parents are acting illegally, it is the
child’s duty to denounce the offense and seek
punishment.
– How can we understand virtue as an abstract
quality if it is situationally dependent?
Plato (427 to 347 B. C.)
• There are two worlds
– The world we live in
– The world of Forms or Ideas
• Our world is a pale and imperfect reflection of
the genuine world of Forms or Ideas
– Only by entering the world of Forms or Ideas can one
understand the true nature of virtue and other
qualities
– This world is available only to philosophers who apply
their rational faculties to the pursuit of wisdom
Plato (427 to 347 B. C.)
• In The Republic Plato described the ideal
state in which rule was accomplished by
philosopher-kings
– Advocated an intellectual aristocracy
– The philosophical elite would rule and other
less intelligent classes would work at
functions for which their talents best suited
them
Aristotle (384 to 322 B.C.)
• Aristotle started out as a
disciple of Plato but came
to distrust the Theory of
Forms or Ideas
– Very concrete and real as
opposed to Plato’s abstract
concepts
– Believed philosophers could
rely on their senses to
provide accurate information
about the world and then use
reason to sort things out
Aristotle (384 to 322 B.C.)
• Devised rigorous rules of logic to construct
compelling arguments
– Logic is how we come to know about things
• Will have a profound effect on Christian
philosophy in medieval Europe, especially
through St. Thomas Aquinas
• Also wrote on biology, physics, and literature
– Literature should be structured to represent a
complete and unified action with a beginning, middle,
and end
Others
• Epicureans
– Identified pleasure as the greatest good
• Skeptics
– Refused to take strong positions on contentious
issues because they doubted the possibility of certain
knowledge
• Stoics
– Individuals should focus their attention strictly on
duties that reason and nature demanded of them
• In their own way, all three sought to bring
individuals to a state of inner peace and
tranquility
How was order maintained
in Greece?
• Philosophy
– Socrates
• Knowing the truly good
would necessarily direct
a person to act in line
with this knowledge
– Plato
• The philosophical elite
would rule and other
less intelligent classes
would work at functions
for which their talents
best suited them
– Aristotle
• Know about things
through logic
• Others
– Epicureans
• Identified pleasure as
the greatest good
– Skeptics
• Refused to take strong
positions on
contentious issues
because they doubted
the possibility of certain
knowledge
– Stoics
• Individuals should focus
their attention strictly on
duties that reason and
nature demanded of
them